The Twelfth Moon || ✔️

28. A Burning Surprise

"I've been busy," I said, as I munched on a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"So have I," he admitted. "Then again, I suppose a Beta always would be busy. What's your excuse?"

I shot him a sideways glance. "I wasn't aware I needed to justify my whereabouts to anyone."

"You don't," he said while chewing on a greenish vegetable I didn't recognize from my time in Spitta. "I'm more interested in your whereabouts that involve me, anyways."

"Too bad there haven't been any ever since that day at the Temple," I shot at him. I was slightly annoyed how he hadn't made any effort to talk to me, other than the few rare occasions he had something to pester me about.

"You didn't make any efforts either, you know," he retorted, his eyes staying glued to his plate as he cut up another piece of his meat.

I only sighed. It had no point telling him to stay out of my head, since he didn't seem to listen anyway.

He shook his head, accompanied by a small chuckle.

"What?" I demanded as I angrily pierced an innocent potato.

"You always blame me for looking in your head, but you're the one screaming your thoughts at me."

I nearly choked on my food. "I am not!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Don't you think I have better things to do than to look in your mind?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know what idiotic things you like to occupy yourself with."

A playful grin grew around his lips. "Oh, many, many idiotic things. But digging around in your mind isn't one of them."

I couldn't help but answer his smile with a soft one of my own. I found it near to impossible to stay frustrated at that sunburned grin of his. "Do tell," I urged him, my tone still dry.

He leaned back in his chair with a content expression. "One idiotic confession for another," he proposed.

"Deal." I didn't think twice about it.

"I sometimes add a full pepper to my ale," he confessed.

"That can't taste good," I frowned.

He clicked his tongue. "I don't do it for the taste."

I took another bite of my potatoes. "Then why do you do it?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Surely, you must have had a reason to do it at some point," I said.

"Maybe I like the kick I get from it. To switch up my otherwise boring life," he winked.

"I cannot imagine your life to be boring," I sniggered.

He leaned forward on the table, his head turned to face me. "You'd be surprised, Sari." My name rolled of his tongue.

"You seem to make a habit out of surprising me."

He tilted his head to the side. "That I do. You owe me one idiotic confession by the way."

I flopped my hands in my lap. "Alright, a deal is a deal. Sometimes when I'm bored, I start rereading one of my books backwards."

"How does that work?" He questioned.

"Not well," I admitted, some air escaping my lungs in a breathy laugh.